The International Parking Institute estimates that there are more than 105 million parking spaces in the U.S., a number that changes every day. The ratio of off-street spaces to on-street is roughly two-to-one. Apart from the daily commute to work, consumers use pay-for-park facilities to park their vehicles safely while on vacation, shopping, or staying in a hotel.
Typically, a consumer will enter a pay for park facility and receive a ticket indicating when entry occurred. The consumer then parks their car and proceeds to their ultimate destination. Upon returning, the consumer will present the parking ticket to a clerk or automated machine, be advised of the total parking charge, pay it, receive a receipt, and exit the pay for park facility.
Often, pay-for-park facilities are patronized based upon their proximity to given geographic features. For instance, on the day of football game, a pay-for-park facility closest to a football stadium will fill up first, then the next closest will fill up second and so on as the distance from the football stadium increases. However, football games and other events are usually no more than once per week. Thus, a pay-for-park facility will not have continued desirability based upon its proximity to the stadium.
Moreover, in some urban areas there are a myriad of pay-for-park facilities within close proximity to popular destinations such as office buildings, restaurants, cultural events, and other facilities for entertainment. Typically, a consumer choosing between park-for-park facilities may distinguish by price when the proximity to the desired destination is about the same. Thus, most pay-for-park facilities located within the same proximity charge approximately the same rates. Without a significant distinction between facilities, consumer patronization is rather random and business is not steady.